Green Recovery from COVID-19: Written evidence
In late 2020, following the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Environmental Audit Committee (EAC) held a parliamentary inquiry on the topic of how the recovery from COVID could be turned into a 'Green Recovery', based on the idea that we could "build back better".
The IES submitted written evidence to the inquiry, calling for "a forward-looking systems approach to creating a sustainable, fair, and resilient post-COVID society".
We were quoted in the Committee's final report, where our insights on a community-led just transition were highlighted.
Executive summary
- Transformative change is necessary to get the UK economy past an era of unsustainable consumption and production
- It is also a tremendous opportunity to deliver policies that also achieve environmental, social, and economic goals
- If we want to take a transformative change approach, we need coherent strategies and governance to deliver a ‘just transition’
- By tackling the deep relationships between biodiversity, climate, waste, and land contamination, we can minimise the risk that investment during the COVID recovery locks the UK into an unsustainable future or exacerbates inequalities
- By making bailouts conditional on a sustainable approach, we can deliver strategic interventions to transition towards net zero, restore and enhance biodiversity, and deliver for people and nature
- The UK should take a leading role in promoting a sustainable recovery from COVID-19, using the SDGs as a framework for sustainable, fair, and resilient communities
Where to find out more
- If you want to stay up-to-date with the latest developments, make sure you are subscribed to Essential Environment.
- For more information about the latest environmental priorities, read our recommendations to the UK Government.
- Take a step towards developing your own policy skills through our training on ‘Understanding environmental policy’ and 'Influencing and Engaging with policy'.
- To support the delivery of environmental policies in practice, see our Environmental Policy Implementation Community.
If you want to support the work of the IES, you can become an affiliate, or if you’re a professional in the environmental sector working with science, consider joining the IES.
Header image credit: © Peera | Adobe Stock
